The Grand Reopening
by Bkipper
Summary: It had been fifteen years since the threat of the Toad, and now his once grand rule rears its ugly head... And standing beside the city's heros' is a brand new face.
1. Chapter 1: A New Day

**Chapter One- A New Day**

_"Is this the glorious amphibian dawn, dad?"_

_"Anything for you, my little man._"

It had been fifteen years since those words had come close to fruition, fifteen years since the floodgates had been opened and almost unleashed devastation onto Ratropolis. Fifteen years since two unlikely heroes had teamed up forever.

Fifteen years since the almost victory for a toad.

But soon, so very soon, his rule would rise again to complete the dream that had eluded the Great Great Toad those many years ago.

----

Truly, a new dawn had come upon Ratropolis since the Floodgate incident. Mobsters had fleetingly come and gone, each less terrifying and cunning than the previous. Safety measures had been set up so thoroughly that no one would even dream of flooding the whole city again. The tiny community flourished with business and opportunity, never ceasing to provide help to even the lowest of individuals. And to those who needed help, they turned to the old heroes of the city: Roddy and Rita St. James...

Rita snapped her short ponytail tight, the rubber band wound against her clay red hair. A light smell of breakfast laced about the air, whispering long eaten tales of eggs and toast.

"Save anything for me?" She rounded the corner, meeting Roddy, who just placed the final washed dish into the cupboard.

"Ah, good morning to you too." He smiled.

"That wasn't what I asked, Helen Keller, but alright." Sitting at the table, she noticed a few pieces of toast left. "Ruthie eat all the eggs now?" Roddy laughed, letting Rita claim the final ounces of breakfast.

"She takes after her mother." He plopped into the chair across from her, earning a grin from his comments.

"Mum!" A voice rung through the walls of the house, vibrating against the thin wood. "MUM!!"

Roddy rushed to the stairs, but Rita took her sweet ole' time, holding a piece of toast in her hand.

"Wut!?" Rita called back, "I'm right down the stairs..."

The tiny rat slid down the banister, Roddy holding his breath as she prepared for dismount. Landing perfectly at the end of the stairs, she grinned to her mother.

"I just wanted to be ready when you left. I got things to do." The brunette let Rita ruffle the top of her hair, her mother finishing the toast in her hand.

"Ruthie, you gonna get yourself killed comin' down the stairs like that." Rita said after catching Roddy's previous heart attack. "So keep practicin'." Roddy frowned as Ruthie beamed.

"Before Ruthie attempts to break her leg _again_," Roddy put in, Ruthie sheepishly remembering her fall two summers back, "We should make sure we have everything on board."

"Oh really?" Rita crossed her arms and coked an eyebrow, "Coming from the rat who forget our maps three weeks ago and nearly led us down another water treatment plant?"

"That wasn't my fault, captain." Ruthie smirked as her dad floundered for a smart answer."You're supposed to know these drains."

"I do. But unfortunately, I need a first mate who does too. Maybe Ruthie could apply for your job." Rita nodded her head to the eleven year old, who giggled. Roddy sighed, throwing up his hands in defeat.

"Come on mum, I wanna git a move on!" Ruthie already bounded out the door, leaping over the porch railing to the docks. "The _Dundee _can't wait forever!"

"The _Dundee _can't wait, or you?" Roddy added, Ruthie rolling her eyes at him.

"Just be back for supper. You know how your dad gets when you're late." Rita hopped onto the _Jammy Dodger II_, shooting her husband a wry smirk. The brown haired rat huffed in good nature.

"I just want her to be grateful I actually make something. But I'll be buggered if I ever make rice again." He said, the two sharing an old joke that was long lost to their daughter.

"Alright, mum! Bye, dad!" Ruthie waved from the deck of her small boat as the _Jammy_ chugged off through the olive green water, sun from storm drains above making the old red paint gleam.

"Don't go to the north side, Ruthie!" Rita once again warned, her green eyes set on her daughter who had mouthed the repeated phrase.

"I know!" Ruthie called back, hands hooked on her brown belt.

"I swear Rita," Roddy commented as the _Jammy _turned around the brick lined corner, watching Ruthie disappear. "She acts more and more like you every day."

"Come on Roddy..." Rita rolled her head back in disbelief, sliding her hands from the top of the steering wheel. "She looks just like you." He joined her in the sunny cockpit.

"How? I can't see through the inherited sass." Roddy smirked.

* * *

"It's been so long..." He drummed his long fingers together, the slimy digits tinted in the firelight. "Too long."

"Almost fifteen years in the making, right?" She figured, standing beside the half broken red chair.

"It's quite a good thing we never forgot this place, huh?" Another male joined them with a wry smile, handing the female a map.

"How could we..." Her bitter sigh echoed into the storage house, the three's shadows rearing back on the grey walls.

"We won't live here much longer, I can guarantee that." The first male rose from the chair, then snuffed out the fire for the last time. "Our era will rise, dear sister, just when another falls."

"A new dawn." Said the second male, turning to the peak of sun in a distant drain.

-----------------

This chapter is far too short, I do realize: forgive me. EVERY chapter afterwards will be much, much longer, but somehow first chapters are downright impossible. Ah well, we're over this obstacle now! R&R please...


	2. Chapter 2:Wilton

Part of this chapter references one of Firefall Bangenthump's amazing _Change of Scene_ chronicles. If you haven't read them, MAKE TIME. Seriously... Their stories are wicked :D

---

**Chapter Two- Wilton**

Ruthie sailed along the river, stretching her arms behind her head as she soaked in a stray beam of sunlight. The _Dundee_'s engine gurgled in the curdling water, but the young rat could cherish no better sound.

So enwrapped in her own boat, she failed to note that the _Dundee_ sailed into the outer rim of the city, sidewalks breaking from the tunnels and lush plants draping about the sun baked walls. She also failed to note the group of girls that now sauntered along the sidewalk parallel to the _Dundee_, the blonde beauty at the front already snickering.

"Hello, Ruthie!" The girl hollered, Ruthie jumping in her cockpit and bring her face to the beaming group of London Established rats. Forcing herself to smile, Ruthie placed two hands on the steering wheel and smiled back.

"'ello, Margo." Ruthie reached for the throttle, but Margo was already calling out for her again.

"Oh, oh ask her about..." One of Margo's friends hissed into her ear. The red head giggled when Margo nodded and swatted her away.

"Oh Ruthie! are you coming to my father's gala tonight with your family?"

Ruthie groaned inwardly, hating these types of questions: Miss Priss already knew the answer, Ruthie's father sending back the RSVP weeks ago.

"I might...Are you going to be there?" Ruthie replied sweetly, one hand hovering over the throttle.

"Of course! It's _my_ father's gala, remember, Ganga?" Her friends vainly swallowed their giggles from the mention of Ruthie's nickname. It did nothing to deter Ruthie of her prepared answer, though.

"Hm. Well then I better change my plans." Ruthie slammed on the throttle before the girls could flounder for another answer, but the St. James child caught the arrogant smirk on Margo's face before doing so.

--------

"Where we off to today?" Roddy asked.

"Dun know. Just thought we'd wander 'round." Came Rita from down below, Roddy twisting his head about from the steering wheel of the _Jammy Dodger II_. "We do have to get home early, right? So why bother sailing all the way out to Morocco if we just have to get back quicker?"

"It'd be nice to take Ruthie there someday." Roddy added, Rita surfacing from the hull. "I mean, we had a great time." He handed the steering wheel off to her, Rita giving his nose an affectionate flick.

"Yeah, aside from the kidnapping and mafia fight." She grabbed the steering wheel, laughing to herself.

"What do we have to go home early for Rita?" Roddy reeled in a float Rita had let stray in the pale sewer water.

"You don't remember?" Rita steered the _Jammy_ away from a speeding boat, Roddy crying out as a wave sloshed over him, the float he was attempting to reel in flying onto the deck. "Well, at least someone's bringing in those floats."

Grabbing for a rag, Roddy wiped the water from his face, his brown hair falling messily over his face. Joining Rita at the wheel, he waited for her answer.

"We're going to that gala tonight." Rita answered, Roddy slapping his forehead with his palm.

"Oh of course, of course... How could I forget? Did you get Ruthie a dress yet?" Rita smirked at the red impression he'd left on his forehead, and answered:

"Yeah. She didn't want one, but..."

"Once again, Rita, your genes come shining through." Roddy teased, laughing even after she threw the already drenched rag back at his face.

"At least that's where she gets her backbone from, Millicent."

------

Noon had come and gone, the sun high in the sky above the sewer drains that let the flecks of light down below. A small engine rumbled down the waterways, Ruthie humming as her boat slid through the sewers.

Chugging up to her house, Ruthie noticed that the _Jammy _wasn't there. She groaned.

"Great, no lunch for me then..." Tying up the _Dundee _to the dock, she hopped off to her porch, hoping that her mum and dad couldn't be too far behind. Then again, she usually brought a little something to eat when tromping off through the sewers for the day.

She leaned against the house, idly fixing the cuff of her purple shirt. Huddling in the shadow of the porch, she watched a neighbor's tugboat huff down the river, the rat waving to her as he made his way to the city.

Once the boat had passed, Ruthie's ears rung in silence, hearing nothing but the sloshing of the water below.

Suddenly, the patter of nervous feet on wood made her ears prick. Pushing off the house, Ruthie noticed a lone rat walking down her dock. Wary, she watched the rat look around for anyone behind him. Luckily, the shadow the porch cast enshrouded her from his view.

He then hurried to her boat, looking over the vessel with interest. Placing a hand on the side of the _Dundee, _the stranger smiled.Ruthie's anger reared its ugly head.

"OI! Git away from me boat!!" Ruthie hollered across the dock, the tiny person scampering from the _Dundee. _But she wasn't about to let whoever they were get far, that wasn't her way. Leaping over the gap between her porch and the dock, her boots clanked against the thin boards as she easily caught up to the assumed burglar. Hurling herself forward, she knocked the boy off his feet and face down onto the dock.

"Wat do you think your doin'?!" The green eyed rat demanded, sitting on the intruder's back. "Well?" Hands on her hips, she waited for a response.

"I'm-I'm sorry!" The boy beneath her cried. "I just wanted to see the boat everyone's been talkin' about." He shielded his dirty blonde head with his hands, proving that he hadn't taken anything.

"Everyone's been talkin' 'bout the _Dundee_?" Ruthie gawked down at her prisoner. He shook his head into the boards, afraid to look up at her. "What boat did you think this was?"

"The-The _Jammy Dodger_! Somethin' about it belongin' to the hero's of the city.." The poor rat boy explained, cringing when she leaned down over his head.

"The heroes? Roddy and Rita?" The St. James daughter asked, and he feebly nodded to the ground again. "Oi..." She sighed, pushed her short hair behind her shoulder, and got up. The boy yelped and attempted to run, but she grabbed the back of his shirt. "Don't run. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"How do I know that? You already broke my face." The boy turned to look at her, but she didn't see anything wrong.

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing' left to break." She joked, grinning in good nature. He gave an odd smile, but relaxed enough for her to release her hold on his collar. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Wilton... W-Wilton Dunham." Wilton stuttered. He shifted his weight and for a moment Ruthie thought he was going to run again. But he didn't, simply fiddling with the bottom of his grey shirt, which looked a bit torn at the bottom.

"Ruthie St. James." She launched out her hand to shake, but he shied away from it with a quick noise of fright. "I'm not gonna hit'cha." The brunette rolled her head in exasperation, giving up on the handshake.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"'s alright..." Ruthie shrugged, smiling. "Where you from? I haven't seen you around here."

"Cheshire... Long way from here." Wilton said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "I just moved here a week ago with me mum and siblin's."

"You got brothers? Or sisters?" Ruthie asked, eyes alight. Wilton hesitated, but answered.

"Both. I got a brother; Aaron, and a little sister named Bindy.. Well Bridget, but she wants to be called Bindy all the time." Wilton watched her lean against one of the dock's posts, such a wide smile blooming on her face that he got a tad concerned. "And you?" Her smile faltered.

"Nope. Nothin'. I'm an only child." Ruthie flicked a rock off the post she was leaning on.

"Oh. That's too bad." He offered, hands shoved into his pockets. The water sloshed beneath the dock, the two standing in unsure silence. "Well, um, I guess I'll go...It was nice to meet you." Wilton turned to leave, flicking his tail nervously.

"You got somewhere to be?" Ruthie asked, pushing off the post and shifting her weight onto one foot.

"Uh... not really." The rat boy scratched his head, not really certain himself.

"You wanna go for a ride?" Ruthie tossed her thumb over her shoulder to the _Dundee_, hooking a hand onto her belt. "I got nothing to do."

"Me too." Wilton said, smiling. "Well..." He stopped for a second, Ruthie slumping. "Eh, forget it. Let's go!"

Soon, the _Dundee_ puffed off the dock, Ruthie overjoyed to share her boat deck with a friend once more. Wilton's voice drifted around the corner as they left the house behind.

"So, your mom and dad saved the city?"

------


End file.
